[caption id="attachment_2315" align="alignleft" width="300"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-2315" title="Emily Lewis" src="http://news.sjvc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Picture-4-300x225.jpg" alt="Emily Lewis" width="300" height="225" /> When excessive doubt threatened to hold Emily Lewis back from success, he advisors and instructors did their best to help, and show her she had the power to succeed within her all along.[/caption]

When Emily Lewis decided to go back to school for a new career, her self-doubt almost crippled her efforts, but with the help of her instructors and advisor, she was able to recognize the talents within and excel.

Emily was no stranger to the medical field, having worked in it for over twenty years.

“I love people, helping them get better,” she says. “At the end of the day, it’s what makes me happy.”

Unfortunately, Emily’s work had grown stagnant. She wanted something interesting, something new. She had done the same old thing for too long, but she had always wanted to move up, to learn new skills and in doing so help more people. But there was a problem.

“I didn’t think I had the patience,” says Emily.

Nevertheless, she took the plunge. After shopping around for the best possible school, she chose SJVC’s <a title="SJVC Online" href="http://www.sjvc.edu/sjvc-online/" target="_blank">Online</a> campus and enrolled. The program was for a certificate in <a title="Medical Assistant program" href="http://www.sjvc.edu/medical-assistant/" target="_blank">Medical Assisting</a> so she could finally move up in the medical field as she wanted. However, she began to have trouble.

“Her confidence was nowhere to be found,” says Alex Nolasco, SJVC Online academic advisor. “She would call me literally daily, telling me ‘I can’t’.”

Emily had been in the workforce for most of her life, where she excelled. So was so proficient in her work that she received the recognition of Employee of the Month time after time. But those skills were not helping her in her new life as a student. The pace was too fast for her.

“At the beginning, I didn’t think I could do it,” says Emily.

Most students contact their advisor for occasional help, occasional being the key term. Some days, Emily would call as many as three times. She was just so nervous. She worried what her instructors might think if she did not know an answer.

Other schools might have been less understanding, willing to let Emily fall through the cracks, unwilling to devote the extra time and effort to help her succeed. Not this one.

“They knew I was struggling,” she says. “So they took time with me, walked me through.”

Alex had not only ears for Emily’s concerns, but words of encouragement. Alex did her best to help Emily overcome her fears and reach a place where she did not need as much help- a place where Emily knew she had all the power she needed within herself.

Emily found that place, graduating with her certificate. She proved her strength to herself, and to her grandchildren, who could then learn a lesson about confidence and hard work.

No more did she call her advisor two or three times a day, because she did not need to. She finally knew she could do this.

“I feel good about myself,” she says. “I learned so much.”

Her confidence had grown so much that she returned to SJVC, continuing her education by enrolling for a program to get her Associate’s degree. She has also considered going even further by getting a Bachelor’s degree.

Though she began her education nervous and unsure, thanks to the help of her advisors, and her recognizing her own strengths, she has become a better and more confident person.

“I would recommend SJVC to anybody.”